The White Princess finale: Lizzie’s bloody choice

Starz aired The White Princess finale on Sunday night, and after watching the story unfold it is certainly quite clear that at the center of anything tonight was a choice. Specifically, it was Lizzie’s choice to do away with both Teddy and Richard in a bloody, garish fashion in the closing moments.

Why do this? Much of it stems from the character’s growth over the course of the limited series, as she came to realize that representative power was just about as important as actual power. She knew that while Teddy may have appeared as somewhat of an innocent in this, he still posed a significant threat to her marriage to Henry, their rule, and their family.

The beheading scenes were done about as fantastically as the show could have formulated them, mostly in that there was not some enormous effort placed into showing the heads flying off the bodies — and this, in turn, was probably the right choice. This kept things from getting egregiously gory, and altering the tone of the show. After the whole “watch what you’ve done” monologue, there was a sinking feeling in our stomach that showcasing the carnage was something that was heavily on the mind of the producers. Luckily, that quickly proved itself to not be the case.

The way that the series ended after this moment was somewhat muted in comparison to much of what came before it. Lizzie and Henry made the greatest showcase of their power to date — they were strong, defiant, and showed that they would let no one take their crown. They set into motion the events that would lead further into Henry VIII and the rest of the Tudor reign upon the English throne. What the episode did, it did powerfully, though we wonder if you could have also ended the series with the beheadings given that this was the moment of the show’s greatest power.

While not always accurate either to actual history or even the source, The White Princess did prove itself through its run to be a capable drama anchored by some great performances and brilliant costuming and set design. If you were looking for a worthy follow-up to The White Queen, odds are that you weren’t disappointed.

What does the future hold?

As written over at the link here, the odds of there being a White Princess season 2 are fairly low. Yet, there are still some other avenues that you could see the show looking to take.

What did you think about The White Princess finale? Be sure to share now in the comments! (Photo: Starz.)